Baby Names Inspired by the Ocean

If you have a fascination with water and are looking for some good names inspired by the ocean, then you've come to the right place. The name suggestions below were inspired by a variety of ocean-related terms including everything from nautical slang to ocean trenches, saltwater animals and plants to underwater ridges and other languages.

You've never known true darkness unless you have been into the depths of the oceans. So much of it is still unexplored, which is why you may run across a name that makes you wonder, "Why is this on the list?", but rest assured there is a reason. Every single name has something to do with Earth's blue wonder.

Before going further I'd like to say one more thing about the names below. While I have put the meanings and origins of some names, most don't have any explanations. I thought about putting origins for every name (ex. Tiger came from tiger shark), but I thought it would take away from the article.

If you came here for some good name suggestions for your newborn (real or imagined), then that's what you're going to get. I hope you like this list and find it useful.

There's nothing more humbling than letting the sound of the ocean put you to sleep. It's like a gentle lullaby by a caring mother. You'll always remember it.

The Ever-Growing List of Ocean-Inspired Names

The sea is always calling us. Can you hear it?

Abalone

Aberdeen (“mouth of the river”)

Aden

Adira (Of Hebrew origin meaning "majestic, strong or noble".)

Adriatic

Aegir (An old Norse sea god.)

Aleena (Loneliness)

Alessandra

Alon (Filipino for “wave”.)

Alvin (Named after the famous manned submersible)

Amara

Amberjack (If you're preparing for a baby, why not make some brave choices?)

Amoria

Anapos (The water god of eastern Sicily.)

Angel

Anson

Anthia (Greek name that means "lady of the flowers".)

Apam Napat (A Hindu god of fresh water.)

Aqua

Archer

Ariel (A character from the film The Little Mermaid.)

Athena (From the sea; Greek)

Atoll

Aukai (Hawaiian for explorer of the sea)

Aurora

Azure (A shade of blue)

Azurine ( A girls name used in France that means "sky-blue".)

Bahari (Ocean in Swahili.)

Baiji

Bartail

Bartholomew (Black Bart; pirate)

Beaufort

Beck (British term that means "mountain stream".)

Bella (beautiful)

Bellus (Angel fish)

Bermuda (A name for someone born in October? After the Triangle.)

Bismark

Blake

Bloom (After the algae blooms)

Blue (Perfect name for someone with deep blue eyes.)

Booby (Sea bird)

Boreal (Extinct ocean)

Bowline (A much-used sailors' knot)

Brandon

Brishon (Born in rain)

Brizo (Greek goddess of sailors)

Brook

Bruce (After Bruce Lee: Be like water)

Bryde

Byron

Cambay

Caspian (A great sea-inspired name)

Carrack (A merchant vessel used in the Mediterranean during the 15th and 16th centuries.)

Cedros

Celia

Cerulean (A term used for the overlapping colors of blue and cyan. Most likely comes from the Latin word “caelum”, which means “sky”.)

Ceto

The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can't.

— Christopher Paolini, Eragon

Source

Cherry

Christopher (After Columbus)

Cilia (Was used as a nickname for a fat man in South Italy decades ago.)

Cinnamon

Clam

Clarion (Underwater fracture zone)

Cleat

Cliff (Found near most oceans or areas with water)

Coburn (“where streams meet”)

Conch

Conway (Welsh name which means “from the holy river”.)

Coral

Coralia

Coraline (English name inspired from the semi-precious sea growth coral.)

Cordelia (Celtic for “of the sea”.)

Cortez

Cove

Creek

Cyclone

Dahlia

Damsel

Dana (Derived from Danu who was the Celtic goddess of the Danube.)

Daria (Means “sea” in Persian)

Davit

Davy (As in Davy Jones Locker)

Deep

Deliria

Delmare (French for “of the sea”.)

Delta

Derrick

Diana (After Diana's Conch)

Dipsi (Ocean in Bislama language)

Dolphin (For babies who seem to love water.)

Doria or Dorian (Greek for “of the sea”.)

Douglas (Scots-Gaelic for "dark water".)

Down

Drake

Earwyn (Friend of the sea)

Echo

Edward (Blackbeard; pirate)

Eibli

Eric (After Eric the Red)

Ezili (After the Benin goddess of beauty, water and love.)

Finn

Firth (Arm of the sea)

Fisher

Fletcher

Fram

Fraser

Fury (Nothing is more violent than the sea)

Gail

Galia (Hebrew for wave)

Gar

George (After a U.S. aircraft carrier)

Gill (Most fish have them.)

Gilligan

Glan (Welsh for “from the shore”.)

Glory

Gobie

Gorda

Grouper (I actually know two men with this name)

Haley

Hama (Japanese for “shore”.)

Hamlet

Hanno (A Phoenician explorer of the oceans)

Harlequin

Harp

Haru

Hatch

To Sea Or Not To Sea?

If it were possible, would you ever want to actually live in the ocean all the time?

A Short Personal Story

My grandma used to tell me stories about our family heritage. One in particular was about my Great, Great, Great Grandpa whose first name was Ocean. It turns out that if it were not for him saving a damsel in distress, I would have never been born. Unsung heroes who are never in any newspapers or TV shows are all around us, and have been all through the ages.

Hector (A species of dolphin)

Hitch

Hudson

Huron

Hurley (Irish for sea tide)

Hyssop

Iliad

Indian

Indra (Was the name of a Hindu god that reigned over the sky and rain; the name means "possessing drops of rain".

Jack

Jacques (After the Frenchman Cousteau)

Jade

Jaladri (Sudanese for ocean)

Jason

Jenny

Jonah (Person who is jinxed)

Jump (Who hasn't ever wanted to dive into a body of water when out on a boat, as long as you know how to swim, of course.)

Kai (Hawaiian for sea)

Kara

Kelby (Gaelic for “place by the fountain”.)

Kelp

Kemp

Killick (Small anchor)

Krill

Kuril (Trench)

Kuroshio (Ocean current)

Lacey

Lahloo (Name of a clipper ship in 1800's)

Lana (Hawaiian for “calm as still waters”.)

Leander

Lee

Liberty (Time when sailors are allowed to go ashore)

Limpet

Lir (Irish god of the sea)

Lumen

Lyria

Madison (Darryl Hannah’s character from Splash)

Magdalene (After Magdala, which is a town that is located near Tiberias on the coast of the Sea of Galilee.)

Magellan

Magnus

Makara (A Hindu mystical creature of water.)

Mangrove

Margaret (After river beach in Australia)

Mariana (Ocean trench)

Marina

Maris (Of the sea)

Marlin

Mary Rose (After a ship wreck)

Maurea (After a sea shell)

Maury (Sea channel)

Mazu

Midas

Misty

Mitra

Moon

Moray (After the beautiful but dangerous animal of the seas)

Murdoch (Protector of the sea)

Myrtle

Nahla (Arabic for “drink of water”.)

Narwhal

Nautilus

Nereus

Nerissa

Ocean

Oceania (Girls' names inspired by the ocean don't get more spot-on than this)

Okeanos (Ancient Greek for ocean)

Omura

Ophelia

Orca

Osh

Oshun (African Goddess of Love and of the sweet waters as well as the protector of a Nigerian river called Oshun.)

Osiris

Pacific

Pacifica

Pagos

Pan

Paradise

Pavati (Hopi for "clear water".)

Periwinkle

Pearl

Pelagic (Greek word for ocean)

Phoenix

I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean.

— John F. Kennedy

Source

Phyto

Polar

Poseidon

Power

Pressure

Proteus

Queen

Radar

Ray

Reef

Regal (After the Regal Angelfish)

Ridley (Sea turtles)

River

Roger (As in Jolly Roger)

Rolland

Rudder

Rush

Rusty (Ocean saltwater can destroy metal quite fast)

Ryuku

Samudra (Indonesian for ocean)

Sandy

Scarlet

Sedna (Inuit goddess of the sea)

Sergeant

Seymore

Shad

Shelly

Ocean people are different from land people. Those who live by the sea examine the driftwood and glass balls that float from foreign ships. In a scoop of salt water, they revive the dead blobs that have been beached in storms and tides: fins, whiskers, and gills unfold; mouths, eyes and colors bloom and spread. Sometimes ocean people are given to understand the newness and oldness of the world. The ocean also makes its people know immensity.

— Maxine Hong Kingston

Shimmer

Shoal

Sia

Sidra

Sierra

Sirena

Skip / Skipper (A great boys' name inspired by the ocean)

Slender (After a tuna species)

Solomon (Underwater ridge)

Sonar

Spinner

Splash

Star

Storm

Sultana

Sunshine

Swan

Talbot

Tang

Tasi (Ocean in Chamorro language)

Tasman (Sea)

Telanthera

Tethys (An ancient ocean)

Theseus

Tiger (After the shark)

Toba

Trigger

Turbo (Remember the movie about the snail that can move really fast?)

Ucean

Ula (Sea jewel)

Vaquita

Varuna (The Hindu god of water and oceans.)

Virginia

Wash

Water (Obvious, but different and memorable.)

Wave

Wes

Wet (A bit spot on, but definitely a unique name.)

Willow

Wisteria

Yasha

Yoka

Zale (Strength of the sea; Greek)

Ocean Life Is Very Different From Land Life

Who would have thought?

I often wonder if we'll ever really have the chance to explore the biggest half of our planet. It will probably depend on humanity being able to make submarines that can actually travel to the depths. I think we'll find things that will change our planet, whether it be for better or worse.

Do you know anybody named after an ocean or who has an ocean inspired name?

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M.A 2 months ago

Sirena in filipino means Mermaid though

Harley 2 months ago

It's probably a good thing I don't plan on having kids, because I would 100% name them Booby and Wet.

Author

Don 3 months agofrom Tennessee

At Concerned Reader: The Boreal Sea was a seaway that existed 66 million years ago that lay along the northern border of Laurasia. That is why I used that term.

Concerned reader 3 months ago

Please do not name a child Booby!

Also, Boreal does not mean extinct ocean. It's a descriptor for northern terrestrial regions and forests.

uh 6 months ago

why is 'water' and 'wet' here for names?? i feel like those are very odd choices

Maribel 7 months ago

Maribel is star of the sea

beautiful sea

Mary 7 months ago

Um..... XD i wonder who would name the child "Wet" XD LOL... but other then that keep up the awsome work!!

Hannah 12 months ago

Some of these name meanings are inaccurate

TL Stahling 3 years agofrom US

I actually have a family member named "Ocean." I love it.

boydtristan 3 years ago

Nice lens. I would not have thought to think of the Ocean as such a good source of baby names.

Author

Don 4 years agofrom Tennessee

@iwrite100: There is more life in the oceans than many people believe. I know that humanity give the names, but I also wonder if these water based animals have names of their own that we don't know about.

babynology 4 years ago

I love your new Lens theme! Itâs very nice. And a lot easier to read than your old one, Actually

Maribel Forayo 4 years agofrom Philippines

Great to know this. I didn't know that many names are in fact ocean-inspired.